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Valley Forge Muster Roll— Felix Hoover is listed on the Friends of Valley Forge Muster Roll. Click on the link and type in "Hoover." He would have wintered at Valley Forge when George Washington was there during the winter of 1777/1778. more...

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Birth

1752
—Lancaster County, PA

Felix was born to Felix Huber and Maria (unknown) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1752. His birth was unrecorded because the Lutheran Church was without a pastor during the year of his birth. However, we do have church records of his 4 sisters and 2 brothers: Catherine in 1745, Anna Barbara in 1747, Maria in 1749, Tobias in 1750, Johann Jurgen in 1753, and Mary Catherine in 1756. Felix later became a Baptist. His wife's name was Sarah Clark, daughter of William and Mary Clark.

Revolutionary War

Felix served in the Revolutionary War as a private, enlisting on March 4, 1777. His name appears on the Roll of Captain James Ross' Company, 1st Continental Line of Pennsylvania, Morgan's Rifle Regiment Co., payroll of Captain James Parr's Co. of Riflemen in the detached Regiment commanded by Col. Daniel Morgan (Nov. and Dec. 1777) and January, February, March, April, and July of 1778, company payroll of Captain Michael Simpson Co. April, May, June, July, August and September 1779. He served in George Washington's Army at Valley Forge from July 1777 to Sept. 1779. He is listed on the Friends of Valley Forge Muster Roll: http://www.valleyforgemusterroll.org/muster.asp Felix also served in all local Pennsylvania battles: Germantown, Paoli, and Brandywine, and perhaps the battle of Monmouth in New Jersey. We have copies of 9 pay vouchers for Morgan's Rifle Regiment, Continental Troops with his name spelled several different ways; also a Revolutionary War list of privates from the History of Lancaster County, PA. Felix is credited with military service as a "spy" and "scout" for the Kentucky Volunteers. In 1800 Felix was on 2 different lists for Flemming County, Kentucky.

Morgan's Rifle Regiment was a provisional rifle corps organized in June 1777 and consisted of several provisional rifle companies. Some of them detached to Gates' Northern Army and participated in the battles of Saratoga returning to Washington's Main Army in November 1777. They disbanded in November 1779.

After the war

1800 - 1828
—Kentucky and Ohio

Felix came to Ohio shortly after 1800 by way of Kentucky, living in Green County and Miami County for awhile before he settled in Montgomery County, Ohio. Both Felix and his wife's father, William Clark, appear on the tax roles in KY during the 1790's and 1800.

It appears that the Felix Hoovers were large land owners in Miami County. There are many deed records as follows: Deeds for land in Bethel Township, 1813, 1818, 1820, 1822 twice, 1824, 1826, 1831, 1835, 1840. Deeds for land in W. Charleston are for 1815, 1817, and 1824. There are also records for cemetery government stones in 1808 and 1847. As of now we are not sure whether these records are for Felix Hoover Sr. or Felix Hoover, Jr. Felix Hoover, Sr. died in 1828.

In 1815 he joined a group of investors to purchase the land for a school and place of worship known as the German Reform Church of Phoneton.

Felix and wife Sarah, first appear in Ohio in the year 1802 when according to records of the Cincinnati Land Office he received a Land Grant on Christmas Day for over 300 acres in section 21, township 3, and range 7 in Greene County. Greene County later records the sale of this same property for $4000 in January of 1814.

In 1813, the Hoovers began to acquire land in Miami County, when for $1500 they purchased land in Section 25, Towhsip 2, Range 9 from Ralph and Elinor French. In May of 1814, U.S. Land patent #6178 granted Felix Hoover 161.94 acres in Section 26, Township 2, Range 9 in the SE quarter of Miami County. Most of this land was later parceled out to their children in the form of sales or bequests. Even after locating in Washington Towhship, Montgomery County, Felix Hoover traded in land in MIami County as late as March of 1828, less than 3 months before his death.

From its beginning, Felix and Sarah Hoover were active members of the German Reformed Church of Phoneton, Bethel Township, and several of his children and many of their descendants are buried there.

Felix Sr. and Sarah had at least 3 children, probably more. Felix, Jr. was born April 5, 1808, married Lydia Ann Fry in 1830 in Miami County, died October 13, 1847 and is buried in the old Phoneton Cemetery, just south of Phoneton, Ohio. Also buried there are a daughter Rachael, born about 1806, and her husband Jonathan Fry. (Lydia and Jonathan are children of Isaac and Anna Maria Fry.) Felix's son, William B. Hoover who was born Dec. 22, 1797, and his wife Sophia Young, daughter of Casper and Susannah Yost, are likewise buried there. They are reported to have had 15 children. Two other Hoover names are mentioned as possible children of Felix and Sarah. They are John and Peter.

The will of Phelix (Felix) Hoover, Sr. as recorded in the Montgomery County Probate Court makes bequests only to wife Sarah, daughter Rachel Fry, and son Phelix (Felix) Hoover Jr. Sales of land in Miami County by Felix and Sarah Hoover to both John and William Hoover in 1822 at nominal prices may easily be inferred to have been a part of his estate.

Felix Sr. is listed in a Genealogical Index of Pioneers in Miami Vally, Ohio by Lindsey Brien, and also in Early Ohio Settlers, Ohio Tax Records of Green and Miami Counties. Felix is also mentioned in Biographical Sketches of many of the Pioneers and Prominent Men. The book is written by Fanklin Ellis and Samuel Evans, published in Philadelphia by Everts and Peck 1883, page 45, as joining Captain james Ross's Company on March 4, 1777. The same information is contained in the Pennsylvania Archives, 5th series, vol 2, pg 658. Huber - Hoover History written by Harry M. Hoover in 1928, pg 38 lists all Hubers who served in the Revolutionary War, one of whom was Felix of Lancaster County.

Felix died on June 10, 1828, in Dayton, Ohio, Montgomery County. His grave was finally located but had no marker. Two of his descendants worked hard to get a new government gravestone placed on Felix's grave at the Sugar Creek Baptist Church Cemetery in Centerville, Ohio on May 29, 1999. A formal re-dedication was held thanks to the efforts of Barbara Hodalski of Florida and Beverly Schimp of Troy, Ohio. Felix Sr's name was placed on a plaque in 1941 at the old Court House in downtown Dayton, Ohio.

Felix's parents

1738/1739
—Ship Jamica Galley from Rotterdam

Felix, Sr.'s parents, Felix and Maria Huber (Hubart) arrived at the Port of Philadelphia on the ship Jamaica Galley, captained by Robert Harrison (Harris?), from Rotterdam on the 7th of February in 1739. The ship records list his age at 38 years old and gives an alternate spelling of Hubert. The ship came from Rotterdam by way of Cowes, England. Passengers were Palatinates from Germany. They took this "Oath of Allegiance:"

Oath of Allegiance: We Subscribers Natives and late Inhabitants of the Palatinate upon the Rhine and places adjacent, having transported our Selves and Families into the Province of Pennsylvania, a Colony Subject to the Crown of Great Britain, in hopes and expectation of finding a retreat and peaceable Settlement therein DO solemnly promise and engage that we will be faithfull and bear true Allegiance to his present Majesty King George the Second and his Successon Kings of Great Britain and will be faithfull to the Proprietor of this Province and that we will demean our Selves peaceably to all his Majesties Subjects, and Strictly observe and conform to the Laws of England and of this Province to the utmost of our power and best of our understanding.

On trying to discover why Felix moved from Pennsylvania to Kentucky (probably in the 1790s) I came upon this from the War Dept. records. Indian Wars - Pennsylvania and Kentucky militiamen . Here's an excerpt: "Miami, January 1790 - August 1795. In the late 1780's a confederacy of hostile Indians, chiefly Miamis, in the northern part of present-day Ohio and Indiana restricted settlement largely to the Ohio Valley. Three separate expeditions were required to remove this obstacle to expansion. Late in 1790 a force of 320 Regulars and 1,000 Kentucky and Pennsylvania militiamen under Brig. Gen. Josiah Harmar moved north from Fort Washington (Cincinnati) and was badly defeated in two separate engagements on 18 and 22 October 1790 in the vicinity of present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana. Congress then commissioned Governor Arthur St. Clair of the Northwest Territory as a major general, and he collected a force of about 2,000 men consisting of two regiments of Regulars (300 men each), 800 levies, and 600 militiamen. This force advanced slowly north from Fort Washington in September 1791, building a road and forts as it progressed. On the night of 3 - 4 November 1791 some 1,000 Indians surrounded 1,400 of St. Clair's men (one Regular regiment was in the rear) near the headwaters of the Wabash. The force was routed, and St. Clair, having lost 637 killed and 263 wounded, returned to Fort Washington. Congress reacted to these disasters by doubling the authorized strength of the Regular Army in 1792 and appointing Anthony Wayne to succeed St. Clair. Maj. Gen. Wayne joined his troops near Pittsburgh in June 1792 and reorganized his Regulars to form a "Legion" composed of four sub-legions, each a "combat team" consisting of two battalions of infantry, a battalion of rifles, a troop of dragoons, and a company of artillery. After intensive training the Legion moved to Fort Washington in the spring of 1793 where it joined a force of mounted riflemen, Kentucky levies. Early in October 1793, after peace negotiations had failed, Wayne's troops advanced slowly along St. Clair's route toward Fort Miami, a new British post on the present site of Toledo. They built fortifications along the way and wintered at Greenville. In the spring of 1794 a detachment of 150 men under Capt. Alexander Gibson was sent to the site of St. Clair's defeat where they built Fort Recovery. At the end of June, more than 1,000 warriors assaulted this fort for ten days, but the Indians were effectively beaten and forced to retreat. Wayne moved forward in July with a force of some 3,000 men, including 1,400 levies from Kentucky, paused to build Fort Defiance at the junction of the Glaize and Maumee, and resumed pursuit of the Indians on 15 August. At Fallen Timbers, an area near Fort Miami where a tornado had uprooted trees, the Indians made a stand. On 20 August 1794 the Indians were thoroughly defeated in a two-hour fight that was characterized by Wayne's excellent tactics and the able performance of his well-trained troops. Wayne's men destroyed the Indian villages, including some within sight of the British guns of Fort Miami."

Could this be why Felix moved to Kentucky and became a spy under Capt. Joshua Baker for 8 days?